Katherine Heigl ‘Wanted to Quit Hollywood’ after ‘Knocked Up’

Katherine Heigl considered quitting Hollywood after rumors of her difficult reputation began.

The actress hit headlines after starring in 2007 comedy Knocked Up, where she played successful E! News presenter Alison who has her world turned upside down when she falls pregnant after a one-night stand with Seth Rogen’s stoner character Ben.

Katherine later upset Seth and the film’s director Judd Apatow when she called the comedy film “a little sexist”, telling Vanity Fair back in 2008: “Ninety-eight per cent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie.”

Katherine also faced a backlash for declining to submit any of her work from medical drama Grey’s Anatomy episodes for Emmy consideration in 2008, releasing a statement criticizing the material she had been given. “I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination,” she said in the statement.

Despite later apologizing for her gaffes, Katherine struggled to come to terms with the criticism and has revealed in a new interview that she even considered quitting acting.

“Maybe everybody in their career feels that way, especially when you’ve been at it for a really long time,” the 38-year-old told the Press Association. “You have these ups and downs and these ebbs and flows.

Universal via Everett Collection

“This thing you were once so passionate about and was your heart and soul has now turned on you and it’s your mortal enemy instead of your best friend. I think that’s pretty typical of most people.”

The mother-of-three added she often overanalyzed her previous interviews to see how she could have been misconstrued as being difficult. “Nobody wants to hear things like that about themselves,” she said. “One thing I think I’m relatively good at is asking myself and truly addressing; ‘Is there an issue here?’

“You have to be accountable for your behavior. Now maybe I go a little too far in beating myself up, or self evaluation, or not trusting my own instincts.”

Katherine has since buried the hatchet with her Knocked Up co-star Seth and director Judd, and even considered working with them again on a sequel to the hit comedy.

“Wouldn’t that be fun? What do you think that looks like? (Ben and Alison) 10 years later. Do they have more children? Have they made it? Are they still together?” Katherine said.

“Maybe they’re getting separated. That would be depressing though. I wouldn’t want to see that one.”